Refrigerating-machine.



M. LEBLANC. BEFRIGERTLNG MACHINE. AIrLIoATI'oN HLED PEB.24,190.4.

Patented Dec. i6, 19M).

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MAURICE LEBLANC, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR. TO SOCIETE ANONYME PO'C'B- LEXPLOITATION DES PROCEDES WESTINGI-IOUSE-LEBLANC, F PARIS, FRANCE.

REFRIGERATING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

Application filed February 24, 1904.' Serial No. 195,009;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAURICE LEBLANC, a citizen of the Republic of France, and resident of Paris France, have invented certain new and use ul Improvements in Refrigerating-Machines, of which the following is a speclcation This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus.

In a number of types of refrigerating apparatus now common, a` motor, generally Worked by steam is utilized for driving a compressor which draws vapor from the eX- pansion or refrigerating chamber given off by non-freezin liquid with which it is partially filled an forces the liquid into a condenser where it is condensed by a current of cold water. The liquid formed by condensation returns to the expansion chamber where it i again evaporated, thus completing the cyc e.

The difference of temperatures maintained between the expansion chamber and the condenser is generally small and rarely exceeds centigrade and the quantity of heat which the liquid returning from the condenser imparts to the expansion chamber is always small compared to that which it absorbs when vaporized. The temperature of the .expansion chamber, therefore, continues to be lowered below that of the condenser until the body which it is required to cool provides it with as much heat as it loses during a given time.

rIhe pressures'within the expansion chamber and within the condenser are respectively equal tothe tension of the liquids which they contain at the temperatures at which they are maintained. The pressure in the condenser is therefore greater than that in the expansion chamber and that is why it is necessary to have a compressor to pass thevapor from the expansion chamber into the condenser.

An object of this invention is to produce` a simple and eii'cient form of refrigerating apparatus.

As the turbine isthe simplest formfof steam engine and the blowerthe simplest form of compressor, I have utilized them in constructingmy organized apparatus.

In the drawlngs:y Figure 1 represents in section the principal portion of-myrefrigerating apparatus; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of an organized apparatus embodying my invention; and, Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the details employed in the apparatus.

A turbine l is connected .so as to drive a blower 2 by means of shaft. The turbine receives steam through inlet 4 and exhausts through outlet 5. An expansion chamber .provided with heads 6-6 and through tubes 7-7 is connected to the inlet 8 of the blower. As shown in the drawings the frames for the turbine and blower prefer? ably rest upon the walls of the expansion chamber. The blower draws vapor from the expansion chamber and delivers it into volute 9`which, by means of pipe 10, is connected to the upper part of a condenser 11 (see Fig. 2). The condenser is preferably of the surface type and may be similar to the expansion chamber, the tubes thereof being traversed by cold waterv instead of a saline solution. The lower lpart of the condenser 11 communicates withthe expansion chamber'by means ofa float-controlled valve of any well known type, (not shown but located within chamber 12).

I have illustrated the apparatus as utilized for the manufacture of blocks of ice, the molds, filled with water, of which are the refrigerator 13. The'refrigerator is so coupled ;,up to the pipes 7 of the expansion chamber that a stream of salt water may be circulated, through said pipes and around the moldsl of the refrigerator by means ol' a circulating pump 14. A circulating-pump throughethe pipes of the condenser.'

trfugaly blower which will give suiicient pressure, (one-half of an atmosphere'vor tive meters of Water pressure) to havea periph- .ters per second, it is necessary. to havey a tur- .bine of. high speed. Asit is'impracticable to Adrive the. circulating water and saline-V solution pumps at turbine speeds, I emplo fa ably of `the"rotarystype geared down like Behrens tmotor. 1. 1 Rotary motors of this type, While notzeflicienuare simple, have no distributingvalves and ,are cheap. The

eral speed of the 'pump runner? of 270v me;

special motor .16 forthat purpose, pre er.-

arranged in the several compartments of As it is necessary 1n order to have a cen- 90 l5 is utilized for passing thecooling water work, however, which the motor to drive the circulating pump has to' do is small compared 'to the work done by the turbine. I preferably arrange the motor and turbine so'as to operate on the steam in series and in this way the turbine will not only utilize the available energy of the steam which eX- hausts from the motor but the turbine and .motor' will operate simultaneously and vantage even whenv the peripheral speedv of combustible, and does not attack metals. Its

the blower does not exceed 270 meters per second,`as with this speed a suitable pressure of the vapor may be obtained.

Carbon tetrachlorid, (1G14, is especially suitable for yrefrigerating apparatus because it is a perfectly stable liquid, inoifensive, in-

cost is not high and as it does not vaporize under 78 centigrade at atmospheric pressure, it may be stored and transported as easily as water. Its freezing `point is extremely low, but as it dissolves greasy matters, it is necessary to provide special means of lubricating the bearings of the apparatus in which it is utilized. It will be found that a blower, which, having a peripheral speed of 27() meters per secon is capable of increasing the pressure of air half an atmosphere or five meters of Water, will'suilice to pass the vapor of tetrachlorid of carbon from the expansion chamber to the condenser of my apparatus with a temperature of centigrade maintained between them, the average temperature Y,maintained in the expansion chamber and the condenser being very near to that-of melting ice. The expansion chamber is lled or' partially/.filled wit-h liquid tetrachlorid of carbon'and the blower 2 tends to create' a vacuum inthe chamber by exhausting the vapor given oil" frn the liquid. This vapor it compresses` into thecondenserwhere it is condensed by having its temperature lowered by the water circulating through the tubes thereof. The float operating the valve within the chamber 12 regulates the flow of liquid ytetrachlorid ofl carbon from the condenser to the expansion chamber so as to maintain a pedetermined level of liquid in said chamn A. A

- As tetrachlorid ofxcarbon dissolves greasy matters, I preferably construct the bearings 17417, 18-18 for the turbine and blower .of graphite and arrange these inbronze As' the" pressures per square l centiwhich the bearings are subjected sleeves. meter to .which carries a valve 24.

are extremely small and as the bearings are cooled, they forming a part of the refrigerating apparatus, the wear therein will be very small and their life long.

In 'order that thetetrachlorid of carbon may give oil' a vapor in the expansion chamber, it is necessary that. a vacuum be maintained both -in the expansion chamber' and in the condenser and in order to avoid leakvby nrotor 16 so that a less pressure is maintained in chamber 19 than in the expansion chamber. As 1t 1s necessary to provide a vacuum at the moment the apparatus is 'started and to quickly reestablish it in case of accidental entrance of air to the expansion chamber, employ the device illustrated at 20 in Fig. 2 and illustrated in detail in Fig. 3. The `device comprises a casing divided into two chambers by a diaphragm 21. This communicates motion to a spindle 22, the upper part of which is connected to another diaphragm 23 'and the lower part of The upper part of diaphragm 23 is exposed'to the atmosphere and the space between the two diaphragms communicates by means of pipe 25 with pipe 26 and, therefore, with pump and chamber 19. The space betweenthe diaphragm 21 andthe valve 24' is connected by means of pipe 27 with the expansion cham-v ber and the opening which valve Y24: controls communicates with pipe 26 by means of pipe 28. Theareas of the diaphragms 21 and 23, and thel area of the valve 24,y are so proportioned that fora given or predetermined pressure in the expansion chamber, the diaphragms will stand so that valve 24 is open, placing the expansion chamber in comv munieation with the vacuum pump 29 while the' pressure in the expansion chamber is normal, valve 24 will be kept .seated by means of diaphragms 21 and 23 and communication between the expansion chamber and the vacuum pump-29 cut olf.

Throughout the foregoing,-I have assumed that the apparatus is to be used for freezing water. I reserve the right, ploy it for cooling any substance Whatever, whether to be frozen or not. I have illustrated only one blower for compressing the vapor of tetrachlorid of carbon, but, of course, a number of blowers may be coupled up in series if desired. vIt will also be seen that if desired the steam turbine may be reofcourse, to emplaced by a turbine of any other type or* by an electric motor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

l. In a refrigerating apparatus, an expansion chamber, a vacuum pump communicating therewith, and auxiliary means, controlled by the pressure within said chamber, for discharging fluid therefrom.

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, an expansion chamber, a Vapor delivery means therefor, an auxiliary. Vacuum creating agent communicating with said chamber, a valve between said agent and said chamber, and means, dependent on the pressure with in said chamber, for controlling the operation of said valve. k

3. In a refrigerating apparatus, an expansion chamber, a vapor delivery means therefor, an auxiliary vacuum creating agent communicating with said chamber and means, sensitive to` pressure within said chamber, for establishing communication between said chamber and said auxiliary agent.

4. In a refrigerating apparatus, a turbine, an exhauster direct connected thereto, an expansion chamber communicating directly with said exhauster, a bearing for the shaft of said exhauster located between said chamber and the working passages of said turbine and a leakage passage located adjacent said bearing and communicating with an auxiliary exhauster.

5. In a refrigerating apparatus, a turbine, a vacuum pump directly connected thereto, an expansion chamber in direct communication with said pump, a bearing for the shaft of said turbine located between said chamber and the working passages of the turbine, a leakage passage located adjacent to said bearing and means, dependent on the variations of pressure within said chamber, for maintaining a Vacuum within said passage.

6.' In a refrigerating apparatus, an expansion chamber, a vacuum creating agent communicating directly therewith, an auxiliary Vacuum creating agent, a valve between said chamber and said agent and means, dependent on the pressure within said chamber, for controlling the operation of said valve.

7. In a refrigerating apparatus, an expansion chamber, a vacuum creating means di rectly connected therewith, an auxiliary vacuum creating means, a passage 'between said chamber and said auxiliary means, a Valve in said passage and means, controlled by the pressure within said chamber, for establishing communication between said auxiliary means and said chamber by opening said valve.

Signed at Paris France this twentieth day of January A. D. 1904.

MAURICE LEBLANC. Witnesses:

HANsoN C. CoxE, JEAN CoT'rIER. 

